Formula One news

Reasonable first day for Toyoata drivers in China

The Toyota team travelled to China for Round 16 in the 2007 Formula 1 world championship. Earlier this week the team's driver Ralf Schumacher announced that he will leave the team at the end of the season.

The two Friday practice sessions took place in warm conditions but under cloudy skies. The weather could yet play a part in the action as rain is forecast for later in the weekend. Toyota's race drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli both enjoyed a clear day of running. The team changed the car's floor over the lunch break with positive results. Jarno ended the afternoon session with the 5th fastest time while Ralf, competing in his penultimate race for Toyota, was 7th. The engineers will now look to build on this solid start as they prepare for qualifying and Sunday's race.

Trulli commented on his day: "Today went smoothly and we got through our usual programme of tyre testing and set-up. Our long run pace was consistent but we still have some problems with balance. So we need to work a little more on the data in order to find more grip and speed. We've had a poor run of form but now we must forget everything and concentrate on this weekend. It's frustrating not to have scored points for such a long time so that remains the aim for this weekend and we will continue to push as hard as possible."

Ralf Schumacher was also pretty satisfied with his two 90-minute sessions. He said: "The sessions went without any problems and we were able to test everything that we had planned. The track conditions were quite slippery but overall I am happy with our progress. This is my second last race for Toyota but that does not mean that my motivation is any way affected. It's been a hard year but the whole team remains focused on the job in hand. We will continue to push until the end of the season. I just want to finish off the last two races with as much success as possible and hopefully bring home the best possible result."

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